Coronation of Pope Pius XII, 1939

King Victor Emmanuel III, Queen Elena (in the Pearl and Diamond Tiara), Crown Prince Umberto, and Crown Princess Marie Jose (wearing Queen Margherita’s Musy Tiara and her Bow Brooch) of Italy are accompanied by the extended Italian Royal Family as they attend the High Mass and Coronation of Pope Pius XII at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on this day in 1939. Afterwards the Royal Family waved to the crowds from the balcony of the Quirinal Palace.

Images of the Italian Royals were hard to come by (this is the result of 3 years of research), but I’d suspect the Spanish Royals, who lived in Rome in exile, were present! I haven’t been able to identify the women between the King and Queen in the main picture, but I suspect she is a foreign royal as well!